Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insured Losses From Hurricane Sandy $7-$15 Billion: AIR Worldwide
Oct 31 2012 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimated Tuesday evening that insured losses from Hurricane Sandy to onshore properties in the U.S. would be in the range of $7 billion to $15 billion. AIR’s insured loss...
Native Seed Shortage Hampers Nevada, Utah Wildfire Recovery
Oct 30 2012 // High demand for native plant seeds in Nevada and Utah is pushing up the price and leaving short supplies following an extreme wildfire year that burned millions of acres nationally. In the Great Basin of Nevada and Utah,...
Sandy Dominates Southern California PCI Conference
Oct 30 2012 // The subject of Hurricane Sandy dominated a conference of insurance professionals in Southern California on Tuesday – it was heavily used in speeches, a constant topic on panels and it even made its way into meeting...
Hurricane Sandy Unlikely to Trigger Payouts from Catastrophe Bonds
Oct 30 2012 // Investors who have put their money into specialist financial bonds which cover insurance companies from huge natural disasters are unlikely to be hit with big losses from monster storm Sandy even though it is one of the...
Hurricane Sandy Losses Expected to Top Irene’s
Oct 30 2012 // Hurricane Sandy appears to have easily caused more losses than last year’s Hurricane Irene, but final totals will be hard to come by for some time because of the scale of the disaster, catastrophe forecasting...
P/C Insurers Can Handle Sandy Losses; Flood Program to Bear Brunt
Oct 30 2012 // Ratings analysts at A.M. Best Co. said that it is likely that the brunt of Hurricane Sandy’s financial impact will fall on the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is responsible for almost all flood...
Hurricane Sandy Delivers Severe But Short-Term Economic Blow: Economists
Oct 30 2012 // Hurricane Sandy is shaping up to be one of the biggest storms ever to hit the United States but even with the severe damage that is expected, the blow to the economy is seen as short-term. Economists say some of the impact...
Hurricane Sandy Expected Ashore Monday Night; Could Be Biggest to Hit U.S. Mainland
Oct 29 2012 // • Hurricane expected ashore Monday evening in New Jersey • Could be biggest to hit U.S. mainland • New York, Philadelphia and Washington in its path • New York Stock Exchange closed Monday and Tuesday • Early...
Texas Lawmaker: Windpool’s Ike Litigation Costs Still Rising
Oct 29 2012 // Texas’ insurer of last resort for coastal property has paid out more than $1.2 billion in individual litigation costs related to Hurricane Ike, which struck in 2008, one state lawmaker says. Information released by...
Joplin Construction Tops $715M Since 2011 Tornado
Oct 29 2012 // Construction in Joplin, Mo., since the tornado is approaching three-quarters of a billion dollars. Since May 22, 2011, about $715 million in construction has been started in Joplin, according to the latest building permit...
Hawaii Tsunami Smaller Than Feared; Ports Reopened
Oct 29 2012 // Officials in Hawaii reopened the state’s ports on Sunday and canceled a tsunami advisory as fears receded that there would be damaging waves from a powerful earthquake off the coast of Canada. The Pacific Tsunami...
European Insurance Stocks Hit by Hurricane Sandy Fears
Oct 29 2012 // European shares fell for the first time in four sessions on Monday, with insurance stocks hit by concern about their exposure to the U.S. hurricane, while a backdrop of weak company results also weighed. Traders added that...
Update: Sandy Strengthens; Thousands Evacuate; Wall Street Closes
Oct 29 2012 // Hurricane Sandy, the monster storm bearing down on the U.S. East Coast, strengthened on Monday after hundreds of thousands moved to higher ground, public transport shut down and the U.S. stock market suffered its first...
Hurricane Sandy Doesn’t Worry Safety-Conscious ‘Preppers’ Homeowners
Oct 28 2012 // Hurricane Sandy is charging up the East Coast as a cold front is tearing across the U.S. from the west and an arctic blast is barreling down from the north. The resulting “Frankenstorm” could cause gale-force...
Hurricane Sandy Forces Evacuations, Shutdowns on East Coast
Oct 28 2012 // Tens of millions of East Coast residents scrambled on Sunday to prepare for Hurricane Sandy, which could make landfall as the largest storm to hit the United States, bringing battering winds, flooding and even heavy...
British Airways Cancels Flights to Hurricane-Hit U.S. Northeast
Oct 28 2012 // British Airways cancelled all flights to New York on Sunday and will suspend most services to and from the U.S. East Coast on Monday as the United States braces for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy. The freak storm, due to...
British Columbia Earthquake Causes Minor Damage, Triggers Tsunami Warning
Oct 28 2012 // A powerful M7.7 earthquake struck British Columbia’s north-central coast on Saturday, Oct. 27, with shaking felts far away as Edmonton and Yukon. The United States Geological Survey said that the earthquake, which...
Insurers Prepare for Hurricane Sandy
Oct 28 2012 // Insurers say they are making the usual preparations for a hurricane – activating claims teams, staging adjusters near the locations most likely to be affected and generally getting ready to pay for a potentially huge...
Update: Hurricane Sandy Could Affect 50 Million People on East Coast
Oct 28 2012 // Authorities shut transit systems and ordered some evacuations as tens of millions of people on the East Coast braced on Sunday for Hurricane Sandy, a gigantic storm forecast to deliver battering winds, dangerous flooding...
Update: Hurricane Sandy Death Toll at 41; ‘Super Storm’ Eyes East Coast
Oct 26 2012 // Hurricane Sandy, a late-season Atlantic storm unlike anything seen in more than two decades, slogged slowly toward the U.S. East Coast on Friday after killing at least 41 people as it cut across the Caribbean. Forecasters...